Electronic clocking circuits are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, many solid state electronic devices (e.g., microprocessors) operate at a rate set by an internal or external clocking circuit. Accordingly, the accuracy of the clocking signal generated by a clocking circuit generally is critical to the proper operation of the underlying device being clocked. Many devices thus use conventional crystal oscillators to clock their underlying processes.
Crystal oscillators, however, have a number of drawbacks. Among others, stable crystal oscillators typically are relatively large and expensive. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators have been developed in an attempt to reduce the size requirements currently needed for crystal oscillators. However, oscillators or resonators typically have associated circuitry that detects the oscillations or deflections of the resonating structure and transmits such deflections to other circuitry for further processing. Forming such circuitry on the same wafer or die as a MEMS resonator, however, generally presents a number of challenges.